Chain-making machine



M. 0. HEHFUss. CHAIN MAKlNGgIVIACHINE. APPLICATION FILED-AUGJS, 19l9.

Patented Jan. 31, 1922.

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Patented Jan; 31.51922.

Ml O. REHFUSS.

CHAIN .MAKING MACHINE.r

APPucATloN FILED Aua.2s,1919, 1,405,379.

IVI. O. REHFUSS.

CHAIN MAKING MACHINE.

APPLlcAnoN FILED Aua.23, |919.

Patented .11111.31, 1922.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

IVI. O. REHFUSS.

CHAIN MAKING MACHINE.

APPucATmN HLED 11116.23. 191.9.

1,405,379. rammed 111131,1922.

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M. o. REHYFUSS. CHAIN IVIA'KING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED AUG,23, 1919.

Patented Jan. 31, 1922.

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@ZLm/ow v 96mm@ MARTIN '0. REHrUss;orfrnrnnnnrrnre., rENNsvnvANrA,1Assidipirfr.)afroV UNfIfTEDff srafrns CHAIN AND noname COMPANY, orrrr'rsnunen, rnNNsYnvjANjrA, A;

coRPonArroNor rENNsYLvANIA- cHArNNaKNeivIAcHINL Specicat-onofLettersiatent. Pai-,na Jah;

Y ",Appii'a'tiun vmea'.atheist23, 1 919. serial No. 319315;` Y

To all whom 'it may concern." l y' new and usefulvChain-'AhakingMachine, of which Vthe following'is specification."

One object of. my invention. 'is to `pro vide a novel successionof'st'eps and also a new combinationof members for forming chainlinksfrom straight wire orbar v1naterialg-the .invention `mo`reparticularly contemplating a method and mechanism `for bendingstraightlengthsof material into the form of elongated 'Tlinks eachhaving an opening atjonefend whose width Vshall be' suicient to permitofitsf being 'threaded into 1 a". similar linkr whosejends'have beenWelded.y "l

It is Vfurther desired to 'provide arnaohine for Vforming linksopenatone endgfwhich shall include means'for 'shaping the links ashereafter described without' v mutilating the wire, 'the arrangement ofparts being such as to accurately bendithe 'endsbf the wireopera'te'donso vthatfwhen'"the Ylink is ultimatelyclosed it shall beofperfectform. These objects'l and: other@ :advantageous ends I attain ashereinafter setforth, vreference being had' to the'j'accompan'yingdraw-A ingsyin which,l

Fig. 1' vis a plan ofthe ina-in portion'of a chain making machineconstructed :in ac cordance withmy invention; Y

Fig. 2 is a side elevation, partly in sec'- tion, furtherl :illustratingythe j .machine shown in Fig. l; j K' Figs. 3, t ande vareplan-views,partly in section, illustratir'1g''theV operation' of themachine,vand Y Figs. 6 and-,7 are respectively ai side elevation andaypla'n of a complete machine enibodying my invention.A f In theabovedrawings 1 represents a base structureL having' ya longitudinallyextending guidewayv for a slide 2, one ofwhose ends is laterallyextended in -the'f'ornr (jf-'two oppositely projecting Varms each ofwhich has pivoted to its outer extremity one end of a link 3. The otherendof'each 'of these links is Ypivotally connected to an` arm Llprojecting at' right` angles from` the lower` end of a rotatable post 5journalled in fa slide 6 so as to extend vertically or at right anglesto the plane 'of the'base.

*Y c i These two slides G with saidoscillati-ng' Be it known'fthat I,MARTIN O.' Rnrrruss, a citizen of the' United States, residing in. yPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented a posts are movable towardand?` from each1 other in a guideway' and saidposts aremaln'tained atall times equidistantV froinithe center line orcentralvlongit-udinal'plane bf;

the machine. The slide 2 is lreciprocatedinf its guldeway towardandlfroiny the'slides' 6 sov thatthe vposts 5 are josc'illated on theirvertical axes,I and; these slides 6 aremovable toward and from eachother alsoby suitable means,such as the levers (iw-and the cams 6' onaimain camshaft 50. j v The4 upper endof each 'post 5'is flat and isformed with an outwardly projecting seg#V mental portion 8 whose chordor straightl side is concaved to? lrita' wire or bar of circu'# links?)and arms are mounted onithe under side of the base' structurelandthe-posts "5 Y project upwardly through theforward'end fi-.

of such struct-ureisof that theirfupper segment-car'rying'v endsterminate afshor't dise tance above 'the Hat top face thereof. The top,of thebase isv formed 'with-a guideway for a slide in theformf of fa bar'9 carrying y at its forward end afpair of'groovedrollers 10 spacedequal distances on opposite sides ofthe centralfvertical plane ofthebasel.;

land having their( edges grooved or -concave -to fit the rodorwire-stock operatedon.

operative in the central plane'of the machine and extending between thetworrollersf10g-ff` its end being hollowedy or recessed to permit y itto receive the central portion ofthe blank w. vAlso carried onv thebase..and projecting above'the rollsV l() is ahead l2 having three verticallyextending guideways of which the centerline of'foneliesin the centralvertical plane .of .the machiner and thez Acenter lines of theother-'twoilie at requal 'distances y n 'Y onopposite sidesiof saidplane.' l I A king post 13 is slidably mounted-pin the first' of `these*guideways and is ,fof1 such 'a length as'to project-into acorresponding-ly formed `hole-in thebase structurel@ Two other kingposts llare Slidablymountedin f the two remaining guidewaysoftliefstandard l2 `and their length is such that their lower ends mayextend downonto and rest upon the upper face .of 'the base structure.

All three of the king posts have their upper ends xed to a verticallymovable head 15 which is pivoted to one end of a lever arm 16 fulcrumedon a projection 17 extending upwardly from the base structure, and thislever is likewise connected to a suitable operating mechanism, such as acam 16a on the camshaft 50. whereby it may be oscillated so as toreciprocate the king posts 13 and 14 to such an extent that in oneposition the latter extend below a horizontal plane through the groovesof the rollers 10 and segments 8, while in the second or upper positionthe king post 13 is drawn above such plane so that they are not engagedby the blank Under operating conditions the blank is fed into themachine immediately to the rear of the king posts 13 and in front of thetwo rollers 10, and the lever 16 and head 15 are in suchy positions thatthe king posts 14 are in their lower positions ;-the slides 6 beingwithdrawn in the position shown in Fig, 1 andthe posts 5 so positionedthat the straight sides of their segmental ends 8 dene two linesintersecting each other at approximately a right angle. With the partsin the Y above noted positions, the clamping bar 11 is moved forwardlyso as to clamp the straight blank against the king post 13. Immediatelythereafter the slide 9 with its rollers 10 is moved forward so that thelatter bend the blank into the form indicated in Fig. 3 so that its twoparts extend at an angle to each Aother;preferably less than 90. Theslides 6 then move toward each other so that the straight sides of theirsegments are parallel with and nally engage the end portionsl of the twosides of the blank, whereupon the slide 2 is moved forward, therebycausing a partial revolution of the posts 5 so that their segmentalportions curve or bend the extremities of the blank toward each otheraround the lower ends of the king posts 14 into the positions shown inFig. 4. v

rlhe lever 16 is then operated so as to raise the head 15 and with itthe king posts so that the posts'14 are-raised above the plane of theblank while the king post 13 still extends between the branches of thelatter. The slide 9 is thereupon moved forwardly so that the rolls '10occupy the positions shown in Fig. 5,thus

further bending the sides ofthe blank around the king post 13 andpressing its bent ends into positions which while still separated,

65, to operate on another blank ;-the side slides substantialparallelism; a pair of king posts are immediately adjacent each other,the opening in the completed link being suliicient to permit it to bethreaded through a similar link whose ends have been welded together.The finished link blank having the form shown in Fig. 5 is now removed,and the various parts of the machine are returned to the positions shownin Fig. 1 ready 6 preferably being moved apartduring the final bendingoperation.

l claim: Y

1. The combination in a chain link forming machine of a king post; tworollers positioned to cooperate with the king post to vbend a straightblank into an angular blank;

means for curving the' ends of said blank toward each other, saidrollers being thereafter operable to bend the sides of the blank intoapproximate parallelism.

2. The combination of a chain link forming machine of means for bendinga straight blank into an angular form; two vertically reciprocable kingposts; means for curving the ends of said angular blank toward eachother around said king posts; and means for moving the king postsvertically away from the blank, said bending means being thereafteroperable to bend the sides of the blank into approximate parallelism.

3. The combination in a chain link forming machine of three verticallymovable king posts; a pair of horizontally movable rollers positioned tocooperate with one of said king posts to first bend a straight blankinto an angular form and thereafter bend the sides of said blank intoapproximate parallelism; with means cooperatingV with the remaining kingposts between the two operations of the bending rolls, to curve'the endsof the blank toward each other. Y

4. The combination in a chain link forming machine of means for bendingtwo parts of a straight blank by a succession of operations, intosubstantial parallelism; with means operativeon the ends of the blank'inthe interval between said operations for curving said ends toward yeachother, the same consisting of two slides movable toward and from eachother; rotatable bending posts carried by said slides respectively; andking posts positioned to cooperate with said posts.

5. The combination in a chain link forming machine of means for bendinga straight blank to first give its main portions an angular form andthereafter bring said portions into substantial parallelism; a pair ofking posts movable in lines; atright anglesV to the plane of movement ofsaid'portions of the link; slides movable toward and from each otheradjacent the ends ofthe blank; posts rotatably mounted on said slidesVKand each having a segmental portion positioned to respectively cooperatewith said king posts; and means for turning said rotatable posts tocause them to cooperate with the king posts to bend the ends of theblank toward leach other.

6. The combination in a chain link forming machine of means for bendinga straight blank to give its main portions an angular form andthereafter bring said portions into movable in lines at right angles tothe plane of movement of said portions of the link; slides movabletoward and from each other adjacent the ends of the blank; postsrotatably mounted on said slides and each'having a segmentally formedportion positioned to respectively cooperate with said king posts; andmeans for turning said rotatable posts to cause them to cooperate withthe king posts to bend the ends of the blank to- Ward each other, saidmeans consisting of arms respectively connected to the rotatable whichconsists in bending a straight blank into angular form; thereafterbending'the ends of said blank toward each other; and

finally acting upon the sides of the blank to 20 j bring them intoapproximate parallelism. In Witness whereof I alix my signature.

VMARTIN o. REHFUss.

